Person:Herman Goschie (1)

Herman Max Goschie
January 16, 1923 - August 8, 2011

Herman Max Goschie was born on January 16, 1923 at Silverton's early hospital and passed away in his home on August 8, 2011. He was baptized, confirmed and a lifelong member of Trinity Lutheran Church, Mt. Angel, Oregon.

From boyhood on Herman was dedicated to family, church, community and farming. He grew up on the farm of his parents Carl and Wanda Goschie at Lone Pine. He attended Thomas Grade School and graduated from Silverton High School in 1940. In his lifetime, he worked with everything from horse-drawn equipment to tractors with global positioning, from hops being picked by hand to the present mechanized hop picker. In 1984 he traveled to what was then Yugoslavia to receive the International Order of the Hop.

In addition to growing hops, Goschie Farms, under Herman's leadership, initiated the growing of many other crops including grains, berries, beans, grass seed, echinacea, sugar beet seed, corn and wine grapes. Goschie Farms has also raised cattle, sheep and hogs.

Herman's commitment to community is exemplified by his over 60 years of perfect attendance as a Rotarian. In addition he contributed his time to the boards of local school districts, county fair, his church and Silverton Hospital. He was honored as Silverton's First Citizen in 1993 and the Goschie family received Silverton's Lifetime Achievement honor in 2006. He was also a member of the Mutual of Enumclaw Insurance Board from 1978 to 1992.

Survivors are his wife of 66 years, Vernice, and their children Susan, Gordon and his wife Sandy, Gayle, Glenn and grandchildren Dallas and Riley. In addition he leaves nephews George Mohring, Gerald and Carl Goschie and nieces Cassandra Hinkle and Ardelle Timm.

A graveside service will be held on Saturday, August 13 at 1 p.m. at Miller Cemetery(Cascade Highway 213). It will be followed by a memorial service and reception at 2 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church, Mt. Angel (15534 E. Marquam Rd. NE, crossroad Meridian).

Memorials may be made to Trinity Lutheran Church, Mt. Angel or the Silverton Hospital Foundation.

Published in StatesmanJournal on August 10, 2011

Herman M Goschie 7

"Birth: Jan. 16, 1923, Silverton, Marion County, Oregon, USA
Death: Aug. 8, 2011, Oregon, USA
Burial: Miller Cemetery, Silverton, Marion County, Oregon, USA"

"It was in the Silverton Hills, later in the twentieth century where the wonderful Marshall strawberry was grown. They were huge, flavorful and sweet and people would come all the way from Portland just to pick them. Introduced to the area in 1938 they succumbed to a disease in the 1960’s. They didn’t transport well to the cannery either so no effort was made to save them. Hop yards were planted all around Silverton in the late 19th century. Hop dryers would be built along side barns and sheds. A tape of the history of hops in Silverton was given by Herman Goschie for a local schoolboy’s history project in the 1970’s. Mr. Goschie’s grandfather came to Silverton in 1885 from California and bought 80 acres five miles northeast of town in the Abiqua area. It was Mr. Goschie’s father, Carl, who harvested the first hops in 1905 and the Goschie family is still raising hops. Herman tells about the changes is growing hops over the past century, the mechanization of harvesting being the biggest. Hops had to be picked by hand into big hop baskets, then dumped into large bags which were then taken to the hop dryers where stoves had to be kept burning until the hops were dry. It was a labor-intensive industry, but then, almost all agriculture is very hard work!"